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Grocery market heats up thanks to good weather

The soaring temperatures have had a positive impact on the Irish grocery market, increasing sales of summer grocery favourites by 9% ahead of an overall market growth of 2.1%.

A surge in summer essentials, such as sun care products and ice cream, has boosted the Irish grocery sector by €27 million according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel. Sales of ice cream, barbeque foods and sun care products have rocketed by 12%, 10% and 8% respectively compared to this time last year. Alcoholic drinks have also experienced a surge in demand – cider has seen impressive growth of 14% and beers and lagers are up 5%. According to Dave Berry, director of Kantar Worldpanel, “The influence of the hot weather on sales of summer essentials looks even more impressive when you compare this to overall market growth at 2.1%.”

In the latest standings in the supermarket wars, which deal with the 12 weeks to 17 May 2018, Tesco remains the leader, increasing its market share to 22.4 %, a jump of .3%. The retailer experienced sales growth of 3.7%, with 1.3 million shoppers choosing to shop there and upping their average spend by .80c to €25.50. SuperValu stands in second position, capturing 21.8% of Irish shoppers’ grocery spend, experiencing sales growth of 0.1%. The retailer continues to have a loyal customer following, with consumers shopping more frequently at SuperValu stores.

Dunnes Stores also saw growth during the 12 weeks, posting sales growth of 2.6% and has increased its market share by 0.1 percentage points. The grocer’s success has come from encouraging shoppers to up the value of their baskets to an average of €42.60 – an increase of over €2.50 compared to this time last year. The discounters also performed well with Lidl holding a market share of 11.7% – its highest since October 2017 while Aldi has upped its share to 11.4%, thanks to sales growth of 2.4%, Aldi. Both grocers have performed particularly well in Munster, where they continue to challenge the other major retailers.